Menzies to set up loyalty programme

High street newsagent John Menzies has appointed Option One Direct to develop a multi-retailer loyalty programme.

The scheme is presently under wraps and restricted by a confidentiality agreement with the other retailers involved. A spokesman for the company says details will be revealed at the end of June.

This is the first time that Scotland-based Menzies, with a newsagent business consisting of 276 stores, has been involved in a loyalty scheme.

The spokesman says customer loyalty schemes are the way retailers will operate in the future “and we want to establish an early lead”.

He says that Menzies’ positioning in the South as predominantly a newsagent chain, with confectionery and tobacco sales on the side, is misleading because the average store contains music, videos, toys, books and cards.

Menzies is strengthening its retail business. Last month its Total Home Entertainment division acquired a 37 per cent interest in Funsoft – a German distributor and publisher of CD-Rom and other multimedia software.

Other retail chains within the Menzies group include: The Early Learning Centre, Universal Office Supplies and Smythson of Bond Street.